Social Media As A Tool For Consumer Engagement

One of the speakers at the recent Colorado Ag Classic was agvocate and Monsanto Online Engagement Director Janice Person who spoke about how to engage consumer in conversation about agriculture through social media. She encourages farmers and ranchers to find a social media channel that they would enjoy and start there.
Person: “So for people like me, I love photography so if I didn’t have a social media presence on a lot of channels, the first thing I should do is try Instagram because I will be motivated to do it more because I love seeing other people’s photos. If you are someone who is really active in your community, maybe Facebook is a better place for you. So start a page for your farm. Maybe there is a college kid that is not on the farm right now and you can send them photos to have them do the page. Twitter is more for if you are wanting to engage in a conversation based on a passionate topic. Blogging is something that you know you are willing to put more time into it for the long haul.”
She reminds farmers and ranchers that it is not a sprint race but rather a marathon and so is important to continue to participate and engage in your channel of choice.
Person: “And really in all of the social media, you kinda of need to have a continuing presence. If you’ve gotten in out of it for a bit — we’ve all been there — where we’ve taken a break that we thought was going to be a week break, then a month. Start slowly — don’t make yourself think you have to do 15 posts in a one week because where we pace ourselves we are better able to maintain that motivation a lot better.”